A new Christian-based consumer organization that ranks companies based on their friendliness toward people of faith released a Christmas “Best in Class” list, hoping to have a major impact on where people spend their money this holiday season.
Topping the list are brands like Chick-fil-A, Dillards, Hobby Lobby, JetBlue, Pepsi, and Wal-Mart.
The organization behind the campaign, Faith Driven Consumer, coined the effort a Christmas “buycott” instead of a “boycott,” hoping to positively reward companies that they believe have friendly policies towards people of faith, instead of punishing those that don’t.
This year’s best in class list was broken down into 26 different categories. The winners include:
Airline: JetBlue
Automotive: Honda
Banking: BB&T
Beauty: Revlon
Beverage: Pepsi
Cable/Satellite: Dish Network
Computer: Samsung
Consumer Goods: Reckitt Benckiser
Craft Store: Hobby Lobby
Credit Card: MasterCard
Department Stores: Dillard’s
Electronics Retail: hhgregg
Fast Food: Chick-fil-A
Food: Tyson Foods
Health Insurance: Humana
Home Improvement: Menard’s
Hotels: Hilton
Insurance & Investments: Geico
Mail Delivery: USPS
Mega Retail: Walmart
Office Supply: Office Depot
Pharmaceutical: Astra Zeneca
Restaurant: Cracker Barrel
Retail Pharmacy: Walgreens
Travel Booking: Priceline
Wireless Carrier: Sprint
The #ChristmasBUYcott campaign was launched to empower Christian consumers to demonstrate their influence in the marketplace and encourage brands to celebrate people of faith “as an essential color in the American rainbow of diversity.”
“Are you frustrated that brands are ignoring your values?” Faith Driven Consumer asked in a press release. “This Christmas, you can finally do something about it!”
In order to do so, Faith Driven Consumer created a Faith Equality Index that rates more than 330 major brands across different product categories based on their “faith-compatibility” according to a biblical worldview.
Scoring on the index is based on a number of issues, such as whether companies use the word “Christmas” in seasonal advertising; whether they support pro-life views on abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and euthanasia; and whether they’ve enacted a workplace non-discrimination policy that includes protections for faith-driven consumers and employees.
“Faith Driven Consumers are one of the largest minority market segments in the U.S. and have $30 billion to spend this Christmas. Empowered with the Faith Equality Index, they represent an economic power block significant enough to create big winners in the marketplace,” said Chris Stone, a certified brand strategist and founder of Faith Driven Consumer. “A BUYcott offers our community a positive, proactive way to affect change, and we will absolutely use this opportunity to make progress toward our goal of achieving equality for Faith Driven Consumers.”
As part of the national #ChristmasBUYcott campaign, the organization is asking participants to do four things:
- STEP 1: PETITION — Sign the petition asking brands to engage Faith Driven Consumers
- STEP 2: ENGAGE — Contact “Best in Class” brands in a show of support
- STEP 3: RECRUIT — Recruit family and friends to do the same
- STEP 4: LEAD — Gain Faith Driven Consumer Plus Points and compete in leaderboards
To learn more about the campaign, visit ChristmasBuycott.com.